Letters
by unoriginal-elizabeth
Summary: I’m making my first real friends now, and they’re not pretty, or rich, or talented, or anything that I’d imagined friends of mine would be…and I don’t really care."


Title: 'Letters'  
  
Author: Elizabeth  
  
Rating: PG. Nothing shocking here.  
  
Summary: I'm making my first real friends now, and they're not pretty, or rich, or talented, or anything that I'd imagined friends of mine would be…and I don't really care.  
  
Disclaimer: I couldn't pass off the characters of 'Malory Towers' as mine, even if I wanted to. They're Enid Blyton's property - or, I suppose, they're the property of whoever is in charge of her estate now. Anyway, nothing to do with me. No profit made.  
  
Story notes: I've been reading back through the books, and then reading some really lovely fanfiction. I just wanted to see if I could write the characters, although it probably says something that my Malory Towers fic is not set in Malory Towers. About that - I based St. Andrew's on my old college, where girls could choose to stay in the actual college, in dorms.   
  
Thanks to Kanna Ophelia for looking over it, and to sangerin, just for being really nice.  
  
Feedback: Would be lovely. All comments and criticisms would be very much appreciated.  
  
**************************  
  
St. Andrew's was perfectly marvellous, of course, but it wasn't like Malory Towers. There was no Matron to fuss over sick girls, the lecturers were a rather unapproachable lot, and as for learning the name of every student, as Darrell had at Malory Towers…well, that was quite impossible. Darrell was still taken aback at the number of students. Goodness, and she had thought Malory Towers was a large school!  
  
It wasn't that she was unhappy, not at all! It was exciting to do things for oneself, to have so much freedom and so many choices, and Darrell relished every moment of college. She had settled down and made friends, and she enjoyed her work. Still, there was something very satisfying about receiving a letter - it made St. Andrew's seem a little more like home.  
  
Darrell thought herself very lucky on Tuesday, because she had two letters. That evening she slipped up to Sally's room to share them with her. At least that was one good thing about the college, Darrell thought - Sally's room was just one floor below hers and it was much easier to pop in and out of the dorms in St. Andrew's than it had been in Malory Towers! And of course it was much more private.  
  
Sally was propped up on her bed reading a French book, and when Darrell saw her she groaned.  
  
"That beastly test - I'm absolutely dreading it! I've forgotten everything - I'll really have to swot for it."  
  
"It won't be too bad," Sally comforted. "They're never as bad as you make out. Anyway, we can study together - then it won't be too hard - we'll both remind the other of the bits they've forgotten!"  
  
"Oh, yes," said Darrell, cheering up. "Lets! We can start tonight - oh, but first - look! I got two letters today, and I'm dying to read them."  
  
"I got one too," said Sally. "From Mary-Lou. Who are yours from?"  
  
"One's from Felicity - I'd know her handwriting anywhere. And look - I bet she's using that pen I got her for her birthday - see the violet ink? The other - I think it's from Gwen - hasn't she smartened up her writing? The address is as neat as anything."  
  
"Well, come on then," Sally said, settling back against the pillows. "You first - pick one to read."  
  
"I'll start with Gwen," Darrell decided, and slit the envelope.  
  
********************  
  
Dear Darrell,  
  
How are you? Sorry it's taken so long for me to write back - don't think I've forgotten you, or that I'm not grateful, because I am. It's just that things have been really busy over here - nothing like college, I expect!  
  
Daddy had a bad spell just a while ago. It was awful - he couldn't stop shaking - it was so frightening. I just wanted to lock myself in my room and cry. But I couldn't, of course, because someone had to take charge and be calm and with Miss Winter gone, it had to be me. Mother was hysterical, crying and screaming. Luckily, the doctor thinks Daddy was allergic to some new medicine they're using, and he's much better now.  
  
Work is keeping me busy as well. It's awfully hard to settle down to work when you've always avoided doing any. I do wish I'd been sensible when I was in Malory Towers, then it wouldn't be so difficult for me now. And the work I'm doing is simply horrible, dreadfully boring and hard. There's no shirking, or they'll tell you to leave.  
  
The two other girls who work with me are nice though. Marie is small and quiet - awfully sweet - she reminds me of Mary-Lou, a bit. And Ann is fun too, so it isn't all bad. They seem to like me too - it's strange, that I'm making my first real friends now, and they're not pretty, or rich, or talented, or anything that I'd imagined friends of mine would be…and I don't really care.  
  
How is college? Do tell me about all the things you're doing - is the work hard? Do you have a lot of time for parties and meetings? Do you hear from the other girls - Irene and Belinda and all of them? You and Sally and Mary-Lou have been complete bricks, writing to me.   
  
I'm sorry, I'm going to have to cut this short, Mother's calling for me.  
  
Please write again soon,  
  
Gwendoline.  
  
********************  
  
Darrell folded the letter up carefully and put it back in the envelope. "Poor Gwen," she said.  
  
Sally nodded soberly. "It does sound hard," she agreed.  
  
"And yet, Gwen sounds so much nicer now than she ever did at school," Darrell marvelled. "Isn't it a pity that it took something as awful as that to show the good in her?"  
  
"If Malory Towers couldn't bring out the best in her, it would take something drastic to do it," Sally said.  
  
"I suppose," Darrell said with a sigh. "Oh, I'd better read this letter from Felicity to cheer us up. Goodness - I hope there's no bad news in it!"  
  
But soon she was chuckling as she read Felicity's letter, and feeding the eager Sally tidbits.   
  
"You'll never guess what that scamp of a June did! I can hardly believe it, the monkey!"  
  
"What? What?" begged Sally.  
  
"You know that chalk that Betty had? The one that we used on Mr. Young and Mam'zelle?"  
  
"As if I could forget - Oy!" teased Sally.  
  
"Oh don't - that was simply awful! I can't believe I was so thick-headed! But anyway, June got her hands on some of that kind of chalk - only it doesn't need heat to show it up - just time. About forty-five minutes after you use it, whatever you've written shows up - and it doesn't wipe off, like ordinary chalk - you have to get a wet cloth to it."  
  
"What did she do with it?"  
  
"Just before Mam'zelle's class, she gave it to Tina and Lisa, who are pretty good at art, and they drew all sorts of things all over the blackboard."  
  
"Oh - I can just imagine Mam'zelle's face! I wish I'd been there to see it!" Sally began to laugh. She remembered Mam'zelle's look of bewilderment and consternation every time a trick had been played on her.  
  
"It gets better," Darrell told her with a grin. "You know how Mam'zelle always has a pack of chalk in her desk - in case she runs out? June switched the chalk in the pack with fake chalk."  
  
"Fake chalk?"  
  
"Yes - it looks exactly like ordinary sticks of chalk - but it won't write. Well, the very tip of it will write for a few seconds, but that's it. So when Mam'zelle came into class, she saw that there was no chalk, and opened her pack."  
  
Sally was shaking with laughter by this time, and Darrell was giggling too.  
  
"Oh, go on, do," Sally said, when she had calmed down a little.  
  
"She called up Felicity to start on her French translation. Felicity only managed to write a few words, then she told Mam'zelle the chalk had stopped working. Mam'zelle got quite cross, you know how fast she flares up, and said, 'What do you mean, Felicity? This is a silly joke, non? Chalk does not stop working. You will continue with the translation, please.'  
  
And Felicity said, 'But, honestly, Mam'zelle, it has stopped working. It won't write any more.'  
  
Mam'zelle came over, and she tried to write with the chalk, and she was awfully surprised when she couldn't. Of course, she suspected something right away, she's never been as easy to fool since she got hold of those trick booklets. She simply gave Felicity another piece of chalk - and watched her carefully to see if she did anything to it. But Felicity just started writing and of course, the chalk ran out again! They went through all ten pieces of chalk in five minutes, and only three lines of the translation had been written! Mam'zelle was starting to doubt herself - she kept looking at the packet of chalk in amazement, wondering if there was some fault with the chalk. And the girls were dying with laughter. Felicity writes 'You should have seen Mam'zelle - it was the funniest thing I've ever seen!'"  
  
"How did it end?" Sally asked, curious.  
  
"Oh, they made too much noise, of course, and Miss Parker came to investigate. She lent Mam'zelle some chalk and told the class that whoever had played such a silly trick would have to own up, or the whole class would miss the match on Friday. Of course June had to own up after that, and Miss Parker told them all off. The whole second form were kept in from swimming for two days, and June was banned from playing in the match - which is a pity, because she's one of the best in the team, for all that she's so young."  
  
"Bit of a disappointing ending to a fine trick," Sally said.  
  
"Oh, but Felicity said it was worth it, because when class was almost over, and Mam'zelle was cleaning the translation off the blackboard - suddenly all these drawings started appearing from nowhere! Lions and dragons and boots and whatever Tina and Lisa could think of. And of course, they couldn't see what they were drawing, so some things ended up overlapping and looked awfully strange! Mam'zelle nearly had a fit!"  
  
The two girls laughed loudly. After a while, Sally sat up on the bed and wiped her eyes. "Oh, I needed that!" she said.  
  
"Me too," Darrell said. She picked up the letter again, and looked through it for any other news. "Oh, look at this - apparently Amanda was steaming about June being banned from the match, and tore into her for being so childish and idiotic. June was awfully sulky about it, and called off a few practices - but they must have made up again, because Felicity says June is back training."  
  
"You know," Sally said thoughtfully, "I really do think June is improving. There was a time when she wouldn't have gone back training, not for anything."  
  
"I think you're right Sally," said Darrell. "But isn't it strange that" -   
  
There was a knock on the door and Alicia poked her head in. "Hallo - what are you two up to? I can hear you all the way down the corridor!"  
  
"We're reading some letters we got today," Darrell said.  
  
"Oh yes? Anything good?" Alicia inquired with interest. She came in and settled herself on the edge of the bed. Darrell told her about June's trick.  
  
"That devil!" Alicia said, shaking her head, torn between amusement and exasperation. "Did I tell you about my letter from Irene?"  
  
"You got a letter from Irene? You never said!"  
  
"How is Irene?"  
  
"That's just it - I don't know."  
  
"You don't know?" Sally asked, puzzled.  
  
"No. The letter ran something like this," Alicia cleared her throat and recited, "Teabags, sugar, bread, butter, two pairs navy stockings…That scatterbrained ass posted a shopping list to me instead of a letter."  
  
The girls yelled with laughter. "Only Irene," Sally said, shaking her head.  
  
"My last letter from Bill and Clarissa was the same - not a word about themselves," Darrell said. "It was five pages about 'Thunder was off his oats yesterday, but he seems all right again today. Merrylegs is quite well. Clarissa was wondering if we told you about our new mare. We've called her Twinkle. She stands ten hands high and she has the most beautiful white star on her forehead.' Never a word about themselves. I felt as if I'd been in the stables all day after reading that letter!"  
  
"What a pair," Alicia said, shaking her head. "I say, girls, are you going to that party tonight? It sounds like it should be fun."  
  
"No," Sally said. "Are you?"  
  
Alicia nodded. "Betty's going as well - what about you, Darrell?"  
  
Darrell shook her head. "No - we're going to study for that French test tonight."  
  
"But that's not for ages yet!" Alicia said in amazement.  
  
"There's an awful lot to revise," Darrell said. "We're not like you, Alicia - look at a page once and know it by heart."  
  
"Oh, come on - are you sure you can't come? Tom will be there," Alicia coaxed. Sally groped for her abandoned French book and turned away, absorbed.  
  
"I can't," Darrell said firmly.   
  
Alicia shrugged. "Suit yourself." She went to close the door behind her, but stopped for a moment and stared hard at Sally and Darrell.  
  
"What is it?" Darrell asked.  
  
"I'm just admiring your stockings," Alicia said. "Quite blue, aren't they?" She shut the door, and Darrell frowned.  
  
"Sally," she said, rubbing her nose. "Lately, well, I've been wondering…if we ought to, well, say something to Alicia. I mean, I know she's very clever, much more than me…but, well, this isn't Malory Towers, and she can't keep up without doing any study."  
  
"I know what you mean," Sally said. "College is very different to school, and I have the feeling that Alicia is in for a shock at the end of term. She's never really had to work before, not properly. I don't think she even knows how to."  
  
"Well then, shouldn't we say something, so she can pull herself up and fix things, before they get too bad? I hate to think of her falling behind, and she's going to, if she doesn't start working."  
  
"I don't know," Sally said with a frown. "I can't help thinking we shouldn't mention it to her. I mean, you know how stubborn Alicia can be - and she's so used to being top of the class without even trying, that she'll think it awful cheek for us to be warning her. She'll just tell us there are no head-girls at St. Andrews, and go preach at someone else."  
  
"I know," Darrell said, "I know that's just the sort of thing Alicia would say…but oughtn't we to warn her anyway? I mean, even if she was annoyed at first, she might realise how silly she's being, and pull herself up in time, without any real damage being done."  
  
"But would she pull herself up?" Sally asked. "I mean, Alicia simply hates being told off, and her work is all right for the moment. I think she'd probably keep going on in the same way, being obstinate, just to show us we're wrong. I think this is probably a lesson Alicia needs to learn on her own."  
  
"You're right, Sally," Darrell said, with a sigh. "You always seem to be right, somehow, about people. Still, I can't help but feel badly about it."  
  
Seeing Darrell's long face, Sally said, quickly, "Look, we've one more letter. Let's see how Mary Lou is getting on."  
  
She tore the envelope and pulled out the letter.   
  
********************  
  
Dear Sally,  
  
How are you? How is Darrell? Please say hello from me to everyone, and tell Darrell that I shall write to her soon. It's awfully hard finding the time to write letters - I suppose you find that too. I hope the work isn't too difficult - anyway, I know all of you will get on splendidly. You always did in Malory Towers.  
  
I'm on night duty at the moment. I'm just finishing this letter before I go to bed. It's hard, but I really love it. It's lovely to be able to help the children, to get them some medicine if they are in pain, or to cheer them up if they're sad. I always knew I wanted to be a children's nurse, but I never realised just how right it would feel. I simply can't imagine doing anything else. And of course, everyone is so nice, and so helpful. Matron is an absolute dear, just as kind and no-nonsense as our Matron was. Even I can't be nervous around her.   
  
Have any of you heard from Gwen? I'm afraid I've been neglecting her a bit - I think I shall write her a letter tomorrow, I'm sure Darrell won't mind waiting for her letter. I'm sure everything is very exciting in St. Andrew's - probably what I'm doing doesn't seem very exciting in comparison - I don't go out to parties, and between ward duty and studying, I don't have much free time. And when I do have a few spare moments, I usually write a letter, or go out with one of the other girls for a walk. But it all suits me exactly. It's quiet, but I like it very much. And at least I don't have to go swimming any more!  
  
Exams are coming up soon, and that's the only thing that worries me! I'm studying ever so hard, but I can't help thinking that I shall never remember it all - I'm afraid I shall go to pieces in the exam, and fail miserably!  
  
********************  
  
Sally stopped reading and grinned. "Mary-Lou is always so afraid she'll fail - and then she always passes, usually with quite good marks!"  
  
"I know - but no matter how many times you tell her that, she's just as worried the next time!" Darrell said.  
  
Sally glanced down at the letter again, but she didn't read any more of it out. She simply stared at Mary-Lou's writing, a frown on her face.  
  
"What's the matter?" Darrell asked. "Is something wrong?"  
  
"No - not exactly, anyway. Mary-Lou is just a bit worried - she hasn't heard from Daphne in ages."  
  
"I wouldn't worry about it - that's just how Daphne is. You remember, she hardly ever wrote home during term-time."  
  
"Yes, I know, but she did write to Mary-Lou. She wrote her quite often during the hols, and Mary-Lou said she used to write a lot when Mary-Lou started at the hospital as well. You can tell she's awfully upset, even if she doesn't write that."  
  
"Mary-Lou always was soft-hearted," Darrell said. "I don't know though…Mary-Lou and Daphne were special friends in Malory Towers all right, but, well, things are different now, aren't they? Mary-Lou is in Great Ormond Street Hospital, and Daphne's miles away. She's doing that secretarial course, isn't she? Just, it might be a case of 'Out of sight, out of mind,' for Daphne."  
  
"Yes, I suppose so," Sally said, smoothing out the creases in the letter with her fingertips.  
  
"I don't mean to be hard on Daphne - I mean, she was quite decent, really, but, well…"  
  
"It must be hard," Sally interrupted, "Staying friends when you're apart. And Daphne and Mary-Lou were quite different, really."  
  
"Still, it's a shame," Darrell said. "Especially when Mary-Lou's so cut up about it."  
  
"Yes. She was always so fond of Daphne, always stuck up for her and thought she was wonderful."  
  
"Yes," Darrell said, puckering her brow. Sally had a very strange note in her voice, and Darrell couldn't think why. "But Daphne seemed just as keen on Mary-Lou, after that business with the stolen purses. I mean, she went out to rescue Mary-Lou in the dark and rain - and she's always stuck by Mary-Lou since."  
  
"Yes - but who's stopped writing? It's easy to be friends when you're together, like we were in Malory Towers. It's not so easy when people are apart, especially if they're quite different sorts."  
  
"I suppose," Darrell said. She shook her head as if to clear it. "Well, I'm jolly glad that we're still together, Sally. I couldn't imagine St. Andrew's without you - it wouldn't be half as much fun."  
  
Sally smiled a brilliant smile, that curious look gone from her face. "Yes, I know what you mean. It seems a bit more like home, having you here, Darrell."  
  
Darrell smiled back. "Yes, I - I say…is that really the time? I'd better run and get my books - we simply have to make a start with the French - otherwise we'll be no better than Alicia - for all our wise words!"  
  
Darrell sped upstairs to get her books and notes, thinking about what a nice evening it had been. It was lovely to talk things over, and to share news and gossip. Even studying wasn't quite so daunting, when you had a friend to help you.   
  
Really, Darrell thought, maybe St. Andrew's wasn't all that different from Malory Towers, after all. Not in any of the important ways, anyway. 


End file.
